Five o'clock is the baking hour
by guren666
Summary: Sans invited friends over, so they can have a bonding time while baking. Grillby comes, too. Out of curiosity at first, since they are all newly established couples. Timeline is set after Frisk frees everyone and the barrier is broken, so what's it called? Surface AU, I guess. Sansby, Papyton and Alphyne, all in equally healthy dose. Expect bad puns.


" _THAT SMELLS GREAT! IS IT READY YET?"_ Papyrus asked and his hand was swatted by a wooden ladle. A slightly haughty face of Mettaton made everyone present laugh/chuckle/snicker a bit.

" _OUCH! METTATON, WE SHOULD TRY THEM OUT FIRST!_ "

The robot waved with a cookbook in front of the tall skeleton. "Papy, dear. You know your baking skills are _crumby_ , so we're sticking with this guide."

Sans watched their exchange, the focused back on stirring the mixture for the cake, dreamily gaping in front of him. "Sans, you stopped stirring." Grillby said, when he glanced to his left, where the smaller skeleton was, sitting on the kitchen counter, dressed in apron like all of them. He held a bowl with the cocoa, flour, sugar and butter mixture.

Then, there were Alphys and Undyne, baking cute cupcakes. They were much more organized than Mettaton and Papyrus and he and Sans… started dating one month ago. He was surprised when he received the invitation to come and bake with them all, but he came, intrigued to get to know them all better. After all, they were new couples. Couldn't hurt to see which couple has progressed the most.

Before long, the answer was apparent.

It was pretty obvious which couple. The fish and dinosaur ladies. They've been dating for… what? Three months.

As he recalled, Sans's brother and the star of Underground started dating two months ago. Huh. He and Sans are the freshest couple. His flow of thoughts was interrupted.

"grillbz, the mixture is ready." He shot a glance at the skeleton who handed him the bowl with the brown mixture. Grillby eyed it suspiciously, giving it a very critical look, then he sunk one finger into it and brought it to Sans's mouth. The skeleton cheekily smirked and licked it off. "it's sweet, like it should be. stop worrying, grill **bae**."

That bae thing was from them. The human. Which wasn't here… yet. They should have come by now. Sans invited them, too. Maybe they stayed at some friend's place. Ever since the barrier was broken and they went to surface, they have made many friends.

Still… He leaned on the counter, next to the skeleton, reminiscing. Who confessed first?

"whoa, what's with that look?"

Grillby sighed, spreading the mixture onto the skillet. The background banter between the two other couples were a bit distracting for him.

Sensing a serious conversation was coming up, Sans jumped down to the floor and took the skillet from him, putting it in the overflowing oven, filled with cookies shaped in hearts, blueberry cupcakes and their cocoa cake, extra fluffy.

Meanwhile, Grillby sat down in the chair, observing the women and then, the youngster couple. Unmistakably, they were the most odd couple. Two men in their thirties, admitting to having feelings for each other after spending years next to each other, oblivious for their attraction.

It came to him at one late night in his new establishment on the surface, when a young female human flirted with the skeleton for whole two weeks. On the fourteenth day, something in him snapped, when she tried to kiss Sans.

His body moved on its own and… he threw her out. What came next was even more unlike him, the ever calm and collected bartender.

Yes, he confessed. And Sans fainted.

"a penny for your thoughts?"

Grillby looked at his boyfriend, who was casually sitting beside him with his elbows plopped on the table. Yes, boyfriend. It still sounded weird to him. After all those years… "Do you remember that day when you fainted?"

Sans nervously chuckled. "yeah. i didn't see it coming. you could say the shock _burned_ me out."

Grillby put down his glasses for a sec, massaging his scalp. "I know we had this talk before and I know we're not exactly alone, but I just want to confirm something."

"hit me with it, grillbz."

"I closed the bar for that day, sent all patrons home and waited until you woke up. After the initial shock of realizing my own feelings, I didn't know if I didn't ruin our friendship. Turns out, you were doing it on purpose, letting that female human make passes at you. You said it was to get me jealous. So, you were in love with me, too?"

Sans smiled, moving his hand and it stopped on Grillby's hand. They heard gasps. Oh crap. They totally forgot…

"A-adorable…" Alphys said quietly and Undyne rolled her eyes, joining their hands, too. The former scientist blushed heavily. "Al, you're very cute when you blush…" Was Undyne's exclamation.

" _HEY, YOU FOUR! KEEP IT PG!"_ Papyrus cried out, embarrassed at the display of affection.

Undyne grinned, leaning down and kissing Alphys' hand. "Undyne!"

"You've no spunk! In love, you have to be bold! Passionate!"

Mettaton snorted. "Oh, we're passionate, right, Papy?" Mettaton grabbed the unsuspecting skeleton by his slender waist, smooching with him.

Papyrus whistled, snuggling with him. " _NYEHEHEH._ "

Sans stood up, along with Grillby. "kids, i think that the cookies are done. let's check."

Sans strut to the oven, gazing at their creations. "hmm. the cookies are brown, as they should be. paps, mettaton, do you want to do the honors or should i?"

Mettaton stepped forward. "Let me do it."

"ok."

He watched with them as the robot pulled them out. Papyrus shuffled impatiently around him. Mettaton picked one cookie up, gave it a few blows before he outstretched his arm towards Papyrus, feeding it to him. "Say aah! ~" He ate it, munching and swallowed, his eyes lit up. " _IT'S PURE LOVE!_ "

Mettaton giggled. "Why, my love for you has finally gained a physical form, Papy."

Undyne and Alphys went off somewhere before the cookies were pulled out of the oven, so they missed this showing of love. But Sans and Grillby didn't.

"well, pap. at least you know where to find your showers of kisses now. i am happy for you."

The youngster couple grinned, hugging closely. "Why, thank you, Sans. We're happy together."

" _HAPPIER THAN EVER!_ "

The door to the kitchen creaked and the four monsters looked in that direction. It was Undyne and Alphys.

"where did you go?" Sans asked, curious as to why they were blushing so madly. "N- nothing! It's nothing!" Alphys said, while Undyne dragged her to the table, avoiding eye contact with the skeleton who donned a smug, knowing look.

"geez, i hope you cleaned up after yourselves."

"SANS! WHAT DID I SAY EARLIER?!" His brother shrieked out, flabbergasted.

 **~TICK TOCK ~**

The cuckoo clock on the wall announced it was five o'clock.

Sans gazed at the wall clock, remembering a pretty old, ancient memory. The time before…

"huh, the five o'clock spell…"

"Spell?"

"What kind of spell?"

" _SANS?_ "

Oh, he said it out loud. He laughed. "oh, it doesn't have any meaning."

Papyrus approached him. " _BUT I WANT TO KNOW! TELL US."_

The older of skeleton brothers touched his head sheepishly. "welp, you can't possibly remember it, pap… but when i was just babybones, i asked our dad why he bakes approximately at five o'clock. and he said that it's because of five o'clock spell. i didn't know what he meant, but when i was a bit older, he explained that the baked goodies taste much better when they're baked at that specific time. because of that, the five o'clock spell demanded from all parents to bake for their kids at five o'clock. that's all to that story. and when he said that to me, i firmly believed it had something to do with the cuckoo in the clock."

The younger brother stared at the clock. " _THAT'S THE FIVE O'CLOCK SPELL…_ "

"that's why i thought his cakes and whatnots tasted much more better, every time i ate them."

Grillby smiled at that. "My mother was just like that. She always baked something when I was sad. After eating, I realized there was no point in being sad. Her cookies always brought a smile to my face." He added, noticing how everyone looked at the white ceiling, smiling.

All except Papyrus. " _OH, YOU JUST DON'T KNOW HOW I ENVY YOU. SANS' ATTEMPTS AT BAKING PREVIOUSLY ENDED IN ALMOST SETTING FIRE TO THE HOUSE._ "

To that, the older brother chuckled to himself. "sorry, pap. but i'm sure mtt's _buns_ will be more than enough for you."

The said robot chuckled, while the women coughed nervously, red in their faces and Grillby so – so maintained his calm demeanor. Sans' puns always cracked him up, even way back.

" _SAAAAANS!_ "

Mettaton held him back, flippant. "Papy, forget it. I'll distribute the cookies now. Be a dear and lend me a hand." Papyrus snorted, going with him.

Next up were the cupcakes. Undyne and Alphys took them out for the first tasting, while the skeleton used the chaos in the kitchen, tugging at Grillby's sleeve, suggestively nodding towards the door.

Grillby got it. He wants to talk somewhere private. They went to living room, where they sat down. "so… you wanted to know if i was in love with you before you confessed. to tell you the truth, i have never thought about love, but i liked you for much longer than i remember. i just didn't know my "like" was love in disguise. After you confessed, the gears finally turned. i knew i had to be with you."

Grillby embraced him. "Sans…" They locked gazes and they inched closer, closer, closer - it was but a peck, for they had to return back, soon. Judging from the welter coming from the door they left slightly ajar.

Something reached their nostrils. Both shot up immediately.

"Sans!"

"oh crap, oh crap, of crap!"

Then came the overbearing scream. " _THE KITCHEN IS ON FIRE!"_

Despite the hot situation on their hands, they remained calm and joined them in the extinguishing.

A bit saddened, Grillby scanned the remains of their cake. Sans playfully poked it. "don't be so sad, grillbz, we can make another one."

Papyrus shook head. " _YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WATCH OVER YOUR CAKE, WHERE DID YOU GO?_ "

"you could say we -"

" _SANS, NO_ -"

" ignited the flames of passion and it -"

" _ASGORE HELP ME_ –"

"lit up."

Sans giggled, while others refrained from making any comments, which would only add more oil to the fire that was Papyrus's toleration. "sorry, pap. "

" _WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER…?_ _FORGET IT, SANS. METTATON, WE'RE LEAVING. I'LL SLEEP OVER AT YOUR PLACE._ "

"Oh, yes, darling. ~"

Without further ado, Papyrus stomped out with a smitten robot.

"I guess we should be leaving, too. But… do you need help with cleaning up?" Alphys asked.

"nuh. me and grillbz will be done in a jiffy. but thanks for the offer."

Undyne grinned uncharacteristically. "Oh, I get how it is. Come on, Al. See you later." She waved, walking out, followed by the former scientist.

They were left alone. Grillby pulled up his sleeves, putting on the rubber gloves. "Let's get to it. Grab a mop, Sans."

"'kay."

In a matter of minutes, they mopped up the kitchen completely. Done, they slouched against the counter. "Finally. This baking turned out differently how I envisioned it."

Sans yawned. "dunno about you, but i'm bone tired. i wouldn't mind a nap… in a warm bed."

The skeleton was falling asleep on his feet, so the bartender picked him up, abandoning the cookies and cupcakes the others left for them, taking his boyfriend towards bedroom.

He plopped him down and watched him snoozing. Then he laid down, embracing him. He learns something new about his boyfriend every day, falling for him more and more.

Grillby accepted his feelings and Sans wholly, and he knew his skeleton felt the same.

The bartender put the blanket over them, embracing him even closer as he planted a kiss on his cheek. "Good night, Sans."

 **~ THE END ~**


End file.
